


crashing together like the waves

by helo572



Series: Tumblr Prompts [6]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Bad Jokes, Bad Puns, F/M, Feelings Realization, First Kiss, Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2019-01-27 21:23:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12590804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helo572/pseuds/helo572
Summary: #13. following a kiss with a series of kisses down the neck





	crashing together like the waves

**Author's Note:**

> back at it again with the ryder/liam! this is my kix ryder, she's a bit of a wild child, complete with the pink hair, combative personality and foresightedness.
> 
> this is from a [tumblr prompt](http://talizorahs.tumblr.com/post/166870799199/fictional-kiss-prompts), #13 as the descrip says: following a kiss with a series of kisses down the neck. i was prompted by the lovely [leia](https://juliandevvorak.tumblr.com/) !

Their first kiss was accidental.

 

Kix’s feelings lingered since that first conversation on the doomed transport, perhaps even at the awkward wave while she slurped at her coffee in the cyro bay. He was such a down to earth man, even after they had _fallen_ to the earth (or, well, Habitat 7’s version of it), but wasn’t afraid of the emotions that held him there.

 

Then the beer, the heart-to-heart, her awkward admission of feelings. She was not subtle, none of the Ryders were, if Dad’s midlife crisis to Andromeda was any indication to _anyone_ the sanity which ran in the family. Liam made it seem so…. mundane. Slow, calculated. Careful.

 

Ryders did not do mundane. Instead, she did pink, outrageous, in-your-face, emotional _feelings_. No beating around the bush. Hence, tripping over her own feet while trying to read the onslaught of emails from Tann while rushing towards her cabin after SAM, meant she fell onto Liam in the nearby corridor. He caught her, stopped her descent to the earth, and righted her with a grin.

 

“Hey! No need to pathfind the floor, Gil and Kallo’ve got that one covered between ‘em.” The grin is shit-eating, so she punches his arm, without taking her eyes from the tablet. “What, not even a 'thanks Liam', 'you certainly saved my life, Liam', 'here’s that talk we’ve been meaning to have, Liam'? If I didn’t know you, I’d say you’re actually eating up all this pathfinder stuff.”

 

Now she meets his eyes. “What? I totally am.”

 

“You told me you hated it.”

 

Kix drops the tablet to her side, eyeing him up. The conversation, for once, has an edge that makes her lean closer. “I mean, I do. Did. Still do.” She sighs, pressing a hand to her head, searching the words to explain. “The job is great, so much adventure, it’s just the responsibility part. Like, ugh.” A display of the tablet, to which Liam gives a thoughtful and understanding nod. “I don’t know. And, I’m sorry, I’m just in a rush - thank you. I’d have _pathfound_ my way to the medbay for sure without your timely intervention.”

 

He snorts, and then attempts to lean against the wall with an arm poised above his head, but misses and overbalances. She tries to awkwardly catch him, too, without dropping the tablet. It doesn’t matter how hard her attempts are; he falls onto her again and they clatter to the floor together, landing with an _oof_. When her head has caught up to the situation, and she glances at him, he looks like he’s just trampled a puppy.

 

“Oh my god! Ryder, I’m - I’m so sorry. That - that was. Stupid, so stupid, I’m - oh wow, I’m. Yeah. Really stupid, god, uh, let me -”

 

In all the spluttering, and her bewilderment at the turn this interaction had taken, he hasn’t made a move to get off her. She notices this, and he does, at the same time. The silence speaks volumes as their gazes meet.

 

“We’re…. gonna talk about this _now_ ?" Liam asks, in an amount of disbelief Kix can't quite put her finger on. Disbelief, or reluctant acceptance that yes, this is how it's going to go. "When I’m crushing you to death, after  _just_ saving you from certain death, after I totally haven’t been avoiding it.”

 

Kix has had the script open in her mind for a while now, with minor revisions with SAM’s help. She licks her lips, which Liam takes great note of from his vantage point, and says, “I know I was really open about everything, Liam, and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pressed my feelings onto you so soon. It was awkward, unprofessional, and I-”

 

“Ryder,” he interrupts, with a trace of a laugh in his voice.

 

“... What.”

 

“It’s fine. I mean, cute you wrote out a whole apology, but you didn’t profess your love to Addison or nobody awkward. It’s just me. We’re buds.”

 

 _Buds_ . Her heart sinks, just that little fraction. He then rushes to clarify, “ _Good_ buds, Ryder. Because I really like you, I do, you’re one of a kind. Listening to all my HUSTLE stories. Sure, people ask me like all the time, but they don’t _listen_. You did. And that means a lot, Ryder, it really does.”

 

“So I... didn’t make things awkward?”

 

“Oh, no. God no. I think you made them great. ‘Cause thing is, I like you, too. I think _you’re_ great. All this pathfinding shit, your Dad, your brother. You’ve been a rock. Not just to yourself, but to others. And I really admire that.” He looks her straight in the eye, and the shiver goes right up her spine. “Admire you.”

 

The words are so kind, Kix lets them wash over her with a blush creeping to her cheeks. She beams at him, taken aback. “Thank you, Liam, that’s - that’s very kind. Thank you.”

 

He smiles right back. “What other way am I gonna tell you I totally like you? With a note? A song? Nah, nice is my style.”

 

“And dramatic entrances.” She takes a meaningful look at their predicament, still crashed on top of each other, in the middle of the commons hallway.

 

“Hey, that was _you_! Then I…. yeah. Okay. I did it better. Complete with the falling over. At least you can’t make pathfinding jokes at me.”

 

“That one’s gonna Kosta.” The smile breaks into a grin, where she scrambles to get up, to bolt to her quarters to which Liam will hopefully give chase. However, in Liam’s confusion at her attempted pun, he’s frozen into place, meaning her wriggling lands her lips straight onto is.

 

They both freeze, eyes wide. Then, of course, Liam kisses her, lips hesitant, asking for permission. Kix lets herself relax, seeking his lips in return. He sighs, then smiles as her lips wander down his jawline. The grin grows, until a laugh bubbles out of his throat and he says, "Careful, Ryder!"

 

“I’m pretty sure I can pathfind my way through some kissing-”

 

“No, I’m -” A laugh is pulled from his throat as she nuzzles him, hair tickling the nape of his neck, and he eventually finds the voice to continue, “... ticklish!”

 

Her grin is suddenly an evil one, which dawns on Liam quickly. “Oh, really?”

 

“What have I done-”

 

She peppers him with kisses, along the curve of his jaw, then further down his neck. She places a few on the parts of his collarbone she can reach through the pulled back collar of his shirt, but by the first one, he’s laughing, squirming on top of her, incoherent words pleading with her to let him live. Her breath against his neck is enough to start the giggles, as he’s still laughing when she pulls away, still laughing to herself.

 

“God, Ryder, you’re gonna be the death of me, I swear to god,” he breathes. “You’re…. Definitely great, though. Still. Even if you exploit one of my closely guarded secrets. See, all this trust I place in you, you-”

 

He’s going to keep rambling, so she shuts him up with another deep, long kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> thank u for reading! <3


End file.
